Electronic device and method for providing information related to broadcast viewing

ABSTRACT

An electronic device and a method for providing view information are disclosed. A controller controls a request for broadcast rank to a relay server. A network interface receives a display page transmitted as a response to the request for broadcast rank. A display displays the received display page. The display page includes at least one feed associated with a real-time broadcast program and one of the at least one feed includes the number of users who view an associated real-time broadcast program.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/560,239, filed on Nov. 15, 2011, Korean Application No.10-2012-0002688, filed on Jan. 9, 2012, and Korean Application No.10-2012-0002689, filed on Jan. 9, 2012, which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method forproviding view information, and more particularly, to an electronicdevice and a method for providing view information based on a socialnetworking service.

2. Background

A broadcast receiver refers to a device having a function of receivingand processing broadcast images so that users can view. The broadcastreceiver displays, for example, a broadcast selected by a user fromamong broadcast signals broadcast from a broadcast station on a display.Current analog broadcasting is being transitioned into digitalbroadcasting all over the world.

Digital broadcasting refers to a broadcasting service which broadcastsdigital images and audio signals. Digital broadcasting has low data lossdue to robustness against external noise, advantageous error correction,high resolution, and high definition, as compared with analogbroadcasting. In addition, digital broadcasting is able to provide abidirectional service, in contrast to analog broadcasting.

In addition to a function for providing digital broadcasting, thebroadcast receiver may also provide a Social Networking Service (SNS).SNS refers to a service which generates relations among other peopleonline and is a concept including information sharing with one-personmedia such as Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook of the U.S. and Cyworld andMeToday of Korea. Currently, many people daily use SNSs to communicatewith other people or share or search for information. SNS users may formnew personal connections or intensify relationships with existingpersonal connections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an electronic deviceand method for providing information related to broadcast viewing thatsubstantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic devicewhich is capable of conveniently recommending and sharing contentbetween users of a social networking environment and a method forproviding a content recommendation service.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronicdevice which is capable of easily and conveniently counting and sharinga current broadcast view state between users of a social networkingenvironment and a method for providing view information.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, amethod for providing a content recommendation service between users of asocial networking environment may include detecting a user action forrequesting content recommendation, extracting content information aboutcontent displayed on a screen in response to the detected user action,generating a content post request message including the extractedcontent information and identification (ID) information, andtransmitting the generated content post request message to an electronicdevice or a server.

The ID information may include at least one of a user identifier, asession identifier for identifying a session with an SNS server, or asession identifier secret. The session identifier may include at leastone of a session ID, a token, or a cookie.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude checking whether a user has logged in to the SNS server inresponse to the detected user action.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude displaying a message for requesting login to an SNS server inresponse to the detected user action, generating a login request messageincluding login information which is input through the message, andtransmitting the generated login request message to the server.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude checking whether a user has logged in to the electronic devicein response to the detected user action.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude receiving feed data for displaying a feed associated with thecontent post request message from an SNS server and displaying the feedusing the feed data.

The displayed content may include at least one of text, image content,audio content, video content, a real-time broadcast program, or anapplication.

The display content may be displayed on a webpage.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude capturing at least part of an image of the displayed content inresponse to the detected user action and the content post requestmessage may further include the captured image.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude recording part of the displayed content in response to thedetected user action, and the content post request message may furtherinclude the recorded part. The recording may include storing imageframes of the displayed content in a memory, detecting a user action forrequesting recording stop, stopping storing the image frames in responseto the user action, and generating a media file including at least partof the stored image frames.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude displaying a content recommendation confirmation messageincluding at least part of the extracted content information, detectinga user action for requesting editing, and displaying a Graphical UserInterface (GUI) for editing in response to the user action. The contentpost request message may further include information input through theGUI.

If a preset time has elapsed after the GUI is displayed, the contentpost request message may be automatically moved to a menu object fordisplaying a display page including an associated feed and may thendisappear.

In another aspect of the present invention, an electronic device forproviding a content recommendation service between users of a socialnetworking environment may include a controller for detecting a useraction for requesting content recommendation, extracting contentinformation about content displayed on a screen in response to thedetected user action, and generating a content post request messageincluding the extracted content information and ID information, and anetwork interface for transmitting the generated content post requestmessage to an electronic device or a server.

The electronic device may further include a tuner for receiving thecontent.

In still another aspect of the present invention, a method for providinga content recommendation service between users of a social networkingenvironment may include receiving a content post request messageincluding content information of content recommended by a user's anelectronic device and ID information, obtaining an address of an SNSserver based on the ID information, and transmitting at least part ofthe content information included in the received content post requestmessage.

The method for providing a content recommendation service may furtherinclude assigning a metadata ID to the content information and storingthe content information. The transmission of at least part of thecontent information may further include transmitting the metadata ID.

In a further aspect of the present invention, a method for providingview information between users of a social networking environment mayinclude receiving feed data for displaying at least one feed associatedwith a real-time broadcast program, wherein one of the at least one feedincludes the number of users who view an associated real-time broadcastprogram and displaying the at least one feed on a screen.

The feed may further include a list of users who recommend theassociated real-time broadcast program. The list of the users includesat least one of photos of the users or SNS accounts of the users. Themethod for providing view information may further include detecting auser action for selecting a user included in the list of the users andconnecting with an SNS account of the selected user in response to thedetected user action.

The feed may further include broadcast information about the associatedreal-time broadcast program. The broadcast information may include atleast one of a channel name, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a broadcast program name, a broadcast start time, or a broadcastend time.

The at least one feed may be displayed through arrangement based on thenumber of users.

The method for providing view information may further include detectinga user action for selecting one of the at least one displayed feed,switching to a channel for receiving a real-time broadcast programassociated with the selected feed in response to the detected useraction, and displaying the real-time broadcast program received throughthe switched channel on the screen.

The screen may include a region for displaying a real-time broadcastprogram and a region for displaying a display page including the atleast one displayed feed.

The number of the users may be the number of users of a socialnetworking environment who view a real-time broadcast associated withthe feed in one country.

The method for providing view information may further includetransmitting broadcast information for a displayed real-time broadcastprogram to a server. The broadcast information may be transmitted whenthe real-time broadcast program is displayed for a preset time or more.The broadcast information may include at least one of countryinformation or region information.

In another aspect of the present invention, an electronic device forproviding view information between users of a social networkingenvironment may include a network interface for receiving feed data fordisplaying at least one feed associated with a real-time broadcastprogram, wherein one of the at least one feed includes the number ofusers who view an associated real-time broadcast program, a controllerfor controlling reception of the feed data and controlling the at leastone feed to be displayed using the feed data, and a display fordisplaying the at least one feed.

The electronic device may further include a tuner for receiving areal-time broadcast program.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing viewinformation between users of a social networking environment may includereceiving, from an electronic device of a user, broadcast informationabout a real-time broadcast program that the electronic device displays,calculating the number of users who view the real-time broadcast programbased on the received broadcast information, generating feed data fordisplaying at least one feed, wherein one of the at least one feed isassociated with one real-time broadcast program and includes the numberof users who view the associated real-time broadcast program, andtransmitting the generated feed data.

The method for providing view information may further include obtaininga list of users who recommend the real-time broadcast program, whereinone of the at least one feed includes a list of users who recommend theassociated real-time broadcast program.

The method for providing view information may further include receivinga content post request message including broadcast information about therecommended real-time broadcast program and ID information from theelectronic device, obtaining an SNS account from the ID information, andstoring the obtained SNS account and at least part of the broadcastinformation in association with each other, wherein obtaining the SNSaccount includes accessing a storage region in which the SNS account isstored. The ID information may include at least one of a useridentifier, a session identifier for identifying a session with an SNSserver, or a session identifier secret. The session identifier mayinclude at least one of a session ID, a token, or a cookie.

The electronic device and the method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention automaticallyobtain information about recommendation target content and share theobtained information through a social networking environment, so thatusers of the social networking environment can easily and convenientlyrecommend content and can easily use recommended information.

The electronic device and the method for providing view informationaccording to the present invention automatically collect viewinformation and share the collected view information through a socialnetworking environment, so that users of the social networkingenvironment can easily and conveniently collect and share a currentbroadcast view state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of anexemplary embodiment of a social networking system according to thepresent invention,

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of anexemplary embodiment of a relay system according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an exemplaryembodiment of a server according to the present invention,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an exemplaryembodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an initialscreen of an electronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a GraphicalUser Interface (GUI) for receiving user registration information,

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a logininitial screen of an electronic device according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a logoutscreen of an electronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a loginscreen of an electronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of alogin screen of an electronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screenfor logging in to a Social Networking Service (SNS) server in anelectronic device according to the present invention,

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen for logging in to an SNS server in an electronic device accordingto the present invention,

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen for logging in to an SNS server in an electronic deviceaccording to the present invention,

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service after account linkage with an SNS server in alogged in state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service before account linkage with an SNS server in alogged in state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service after account linkage with an SNS server in alogged out state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service before account linkage with an SNS server in alogged out state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a content recommendation confirmation message is displayed,

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a GUI for information editing is displayed,

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a GUI for information editing is displayed,

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a display page is displayed,

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich content in a fullscreen mode is displayed,

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a content recommendation confirmation message is displayed in afullscreen mode,

FIG. 24 is a diagram explaining an exemplary embodiment of a process inwhich a content recommendation confirmation message disappears,

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in the execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention,

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen displayed in the execution process of a method for providing acontent recommendation service according to the present invention,

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen displayed in the execution process of a method for providing acontent recommendation service according to the present invention,

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a screen on which a real-timebroadcast is displayed,

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a screen on which Video On Demand(VOD) content is displayed,

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a message indicating content recommended by other users isdisplayed,

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a message indicating content recommended by other usersis displayed.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of data flowin an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention,

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating an execution process of an exemplaryembodiment of a method for providing a content recommendation serviceaccording to the present invention,

FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screenexecuting a function associated with a feed,

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a function associated with a feed is executed,

FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen on which a function associated with a feed is executed,

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a further exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a function associated with a feed is executed,

FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of dataflow in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention,

FIG. 39 is a flowchart illustrating an execution process of anotherexemplary embodiment of a method for providing a content recommendationservice according to the present invention,

FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich view information is displayed on a display page,

FIG. 41 is a diagram explaining a real-time broadcast program switchingprocess according to feed selection on a display page including viewinformation,

FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of data flowin an execution process of a method for providing view informationaccording to the present invention,

FIG. 43 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of anexecution process of a method for providing view information accordingto the present invention,

FIG. 44 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of screensdisplayed in a process of recording part of displayed content,

FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an activityelectronic program guide, and

FIG. 46 is a diagram explaining an exemplary embodiment of a process ofdisplaying content introduced in an activity electronic program guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the attached drawings.

The terms “module” and “unit” attached to describe the names ofcomponents are used herein to help the understanding of the componentsand thus should not be considered as having particular meanings orroles. Accordingly, the terms “module” and “unit” may be usedinterchangeably.

An electronic device as set forth herein is an intelligent electronicdevice equipped with a computer support function in addition to abroadcasting reception function, for example. Since an Internet functionis added to a broadcasting reception function, the electronic device mayhave an interface which is more convenient than a hand-writing inputdevice, a touch screen, a touch pad, or a remote controller. Further,because the electronic device supports wired or wireless Internet, theelectronic device may include e-mail transmission/reception, Webbrowsing, banking, and gaming functions and the like when connected tothe Internet or a computer. To implement these functions, the electronicdevice may operate based on a standard, general-purpose Operating System(OS).

Various applications may be freely added to or deleted from, forexample, a general-purpose OS kernel of the electronic device accordingto the present disclosure. Therefore, the electronic device may performa number of user-friendly functions. The electronic device may be anetwork TV, a Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HBBTV), a smart TV, an OpenHybrid TV (OHTV), etc. and as occasion demands, is applicable to smartphones, Personal Computers (PC) and home appliances.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail withreference to the attached drawings, but it should be understood thatthey are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and should not beinterpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

In addition, although the terms used in the present disclosure areselected from generally known and used terms, some of the termsmentioned in the description of the present disclosure, the detailedmeanings of which are described in relevant parts of the descriptionherein, have been selected at the discretion of the applicant.Furthermore, the present disclosure must be understood, not simply bythe actual terms used but by the meanings of each term lying within.Accordingly, the terms used herein should be understood not simply bythe actual terms used but by the meaning lying within and thedescription disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of anexemplary embodiment of a social networking system according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a broadcast system 1 according to the presentinvention may include a first server 10, a second server 20, a firstdigital TV 100, a second digital TV 110, a personal computer system 120,a notebook computer 130, and a mobile terminal 140. The first server 10,the second server 20, the first digital TV 100, the second digital TV110, personal computer system 120, the notebook computer 130, and themobile terminal 140 may be connected to a network 2.

The network 2 may include a backbone network and a subscriber network.The backbone network may include one of an X.25 network, a frame relaynetwork, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network, a Multi ProtocolLabel Switching (MPLS) network and a Generalized Multi Protocol LabelSwitching (GMPLS), or a plurality of integrated networks. The subscribernetwork may be a Fiber To The Home (FTTH)), an Asymmetric DigitalSubscriber Line (ADSL), a cable network, a Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b,IEEE 802.11a, IEEE802.11g, or IEEE802.11n), a Wireless Broadband(WiBro), WiMax, and a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). In someembodiments, the network 2 may be an Internet network or a mobilecommunication network.

The first server 10 may provide a service for connecting the firstdigital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personal computer system120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140 to oneanother. The first server 10 may be a relay server for relaying thefirst digital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personal computersystem 120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140 tothe second server 20. The first server 10 may have a fixed IP address.The first digital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personalcomputer system 120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal140 may access the first server 10 using the fixed IP address.

The second server 20 may provide a Social Networking Service (SNS) tothe first digital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personalcomputer system 120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal140. The second server 20 may serve as an SNS server.

The first digital TV 100 and the second digital TV 110 may be networkTVs, smart TVs, Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TVs (HbbTVs), 3DTVs, or OpenHybrid TVs (OHTVs). The personal computer system 120 may be a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet, or a handheld computer.

The mobile terminal 140 may be a cellular phone, a smart phone, adigital broadcast terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), aPortable Multimedia Player (PMP), or a navigation system.

The first digital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personalcomputer system 120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal140 may receive an SNS from the second server 20. Users of the firstdigital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personal computer system120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140 may be usersof a social networking environment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of anexemplary embodiment of a relay system according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a relay system 200 may be an embodiment of thefirst server 10. The relay system 200 may include an SNS gateway 210 anda metadata management server 220.

The metadata management server 220 stores and manages metadata. Themetadata may include content information and identification (ID)information. The content information refers to information aboutcontent. The content information may include at least one of contentpost information or content playback information.

The content post information may include at least one of a country code,a region code, a session identifier, a session identifier secret, acontent name, a content module name, a content description, a contentthumbnail Uniform Resource Locator (URL), a content thumbnail binary, arecommendation message, or a web URL. The country code is a codeassigned to each country to identify the country. The region code is acode assigned to each region to identify the region. The sessionidentifier is an identifier for identifying a session with an SNS serverand may include at least one of a session ID, a token, or a cookie. Thesession identifier secret indicates a secret of a session identifier andthe content name indicates the name of content. The content module namerepresents content type and the content description indicates adescription of content. The content thumbnail URL is a URL indicatingthe location of a content thumbnail to be included in a feed of adisplay page. The content thumbnail binary represents image data of athumbnail to be included in a feed of a display page. The recommendationmessage is a message which is input when a user recommends content andthe web URL indicates the location of an information page for content.

The content playback information may include at least one of contenttype information, an audio ID (or an audio identifier), a content ID (ora content identifier), a channel name, a physical channel number, amajor channel number, a minor channel number, a source index, a starttime, or an end time. The content type information indicates a contenttype. The content type may be at least one of text, image content, audiocontent, video content, a real-time broadcast program, or anapplication. The content type may further identify a content source. Forexample, the content type may include a search result and may includecontent which is on sale on a web. In some embodiments, the contentmodule name may include the same information as the content information.

If content is a real-time broadcast program, the content information mayindicate broadcast information which includes at least one of a channelname, a physical channel number, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a source index, a broadcast program name, a broadcast starttime, or a broadcast end time.

The metadata may include a metadata identifier or metadata ID foridentifying metadata for content or a transaction.

The metadata management server 220 receives metadata from the SNSgateway 210 and stores the received metadata. The metadata managementserver 220 may store the received metadata so that the metadata can besearched through metadata IDs. For example, the metadata managementserver 220 may store metadata indexed by metadata IDs.

If the SNS gateway 210 requests metadata, the metadata management server220 searches for the requested metadata and provides the requestedmetadata to the SNS gateway 210. Here, the SNS gateway 210 may transmita search request message including a metadata ID to the metadatamanagement server 220. The metadata management server 220 may search formetadata related to the metadata ID included in the received searchrequest message and transmit the retrieved metadata to the SNS gateway210.

The SNS gateway 210 stores user identifiers and user SNS IDs inassociation with each other. The user identifier may be a user accountof an electronic device of a user and the user SNS ID may be an accountof an SNS server. The user SNS ID may be plural. That is, one useridentifier and a plurality of user SNS IDs may be stored in associationwith each other. The electronic device may include the first digital TV100, the second digital TV 110, the personal computer system 120, thenotebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140.

The SNS gateway 210 may store an IP address of an SNS server. If a userlogs in to the SNS server, the SNS gateway 210 may temporarily store auser identifier and a session identifier for identifying a session withthe logged-in SNS server in association with the user identifier and thesession identifier.

The SNS gateway 210 receives a content post request message from thedigital TV 100, the second digital TV 110, the personal computer system120, the notebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140. The contentpost request message may include content information and ID information.The ID information may include at least one of a user identifier foridentifying a user who has transmitted the content post request message,a session identifier for identifying a session with an SNS server of acurrent user, or a session identifier secret of a current user. That is,the session identifier and session identifier secret in the content postinformation of the content information may be included in the IDinformation.

The SNS gateway 210 acquires an SNS server address based on the IDinformation included in the content post request message which isreceived from the electronic device. In some embodiments, the SNSgateway 210 may acquire the SNS server address based on the type of amessage received from the electronic device. The type of a message mayinclude a content post request message and a broadcast rank requestmessage.

The SNS gateway 210 may transmit content information included in thecontent post request message received from the electronic device to theSNS server indicated by the acquired SNS server address. In this case,the SNS gateway 210 may transmit the content information through asession indicated by a session identifier. The transmitted contentinformation may be content information included in the content postrequest message, portion of the content information included in thecontent post request message, or information obtained by processing thecontent information included in the content post request message. Acontent post relay message including the content information may betransmitted to the SNS server.

The SNS gateway 210 may transmit metadata including at least one of thecontent information or the ID information included in the content postrequest message received from the electronic device to the metadatamanagement server 220. The SNS gateway 210 may assign a metadata ID tothe metadata and may transmit the metadata to the metadata managementserver 220 together with the assigned metadata ID. The SNS gateway 210may store the metadata ID and broadcast information of the contentinformation included in the content post request message in associationwith each other. The SNS gateway 210 may store the metadata ID and theID information included in the content post request message inassociation with each other. The SNS gateway 210 may obtain an SNSaccount based on the ID information included in the content post requestmessage and store the obtained SNS account and the broadcast informationof the content information included in the content post request messageso as to be associated with each other.

The SNS gateway 210 may receive broadcast information about a real-timebroadcast program from the electronic device. The SNS gateway 210 maycalculate the number of users who view the real-time broadcast programbased on the received broadcast information. The SNS gateway 210 maygenerate feed data for displaying a feed related to one real-timebroadcast program. The SNS gateway 210 may generate a display pageincluding the feed related to one real-time broadcast program. Thegenerated display page may include the generated feed data.

The SNS gateway 210 may include, in the feed, the number of users of thereal-time broadcast program related to the feed included in the displaypage. The SNS gateway 210 may include, in the feed, a list of users whohave recommended the real-time broadcast program related to the feed.The SNS gateway 210 may acquire SNS accounts associated with thereceived broadcast information by accessing a storage region in whichthe broadcast information and SNS accounts are stored in associationwith each other, generate a list including the acquired SNS accounts,and include the generated list in the feed as the list of users who haverecommended the real-time broadcast program. Here, the generated listmay further include thumbnails of the SNS accounts. The thumbnails maybe photos of users.

The SNS gateway 210 may transmit the generated feed data or thegenerated display page to the electronic device. The SNS gateway 210 maytransmit the generated feed data or the generated display page to theelectronic device that has transmitted the broadcast rank requestmessage. The feed data or the display data may be transmitted by abroadcasting or multicasting scheme. The electronic device may access aspecific address to receive the feed data or the display page. Theaddress may include at least one of an IP address, a port number, or aURL.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an exemplaryembodiment of a server according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a server 300 may function as either the firstserver 10 or the second server 20 or as both the first server 10 and thesecond server 20. The server 300 may include a communication unit 310, acontroller 320, and a storage unit 330.

The communication unit 310 may receive packets transmitted through thenetwork 2 and transmit the packets to the first digital TV 100, thesecond digital TV 110, the personal computer system 120, the notebookcomputer 130, and the mobile terminal 140. The packets may betransmitted through a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a User DatagramProtocol (UDP), and a Transport Control Protocol (TCP). The packets mayinclude at least one of a registration request signal, a responsesignal, a connection request signal, a connection configuration signal,moving picture streaming, a webpage, a file, a content post requestmessage, a broadcast rank request message, a display page, or metadata.

The controller 320 may control packet transmission of the communicationunit 210 based on at least one of an SIP, a Simple Mail TransferProtocol (SMTP), a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a File TransferProtocol (FTP), a Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), or Multi MediaStreaming (MMS) protocol.

The controller 320 controls operation of the server 300 according todata included in the received packets. For example, if a broadcast rankrequest message is received from the electronic device, the controller320 controls the server 300 to transmit feed data or a display page tothe electronic device. If a content post request message is received,the controller 320 may generate metadata ID for content informationincluded in the content post request message and control the server 300to transmit the content information to the metadata management server220 or the server 20 together with the generated metadata ID.

The storage unit 330 may store at least one of metadata ID, metadata, anSNS account, SNS account authentication information, an SNS serveraddress, a user identifier, user identifier authentication information,or message type ID information for identifying the type of a receivedmessage.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an exemplaryembodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, an electronic device 400 may perform a function ofat least one of the first broadcast receiver 100, the second broadcastreceiver 110, the personal computer system 120, the notebook computer130, or the mobile communication terminal 140.

The electronic device 400 may include a tuner 405, a demodulator 410, ademultiplexer 415, a network interface 420, an external signal inputunit 425, a video decoder 430, an audio decoder 435, a controller 440, astorage unit 445, a scaler 450, a mixer 460, a formatter 470, acommunication unit 480, and a sound sensor 490. The electronic device400 may further include a capture device 401, a display 402, glasses403, and a remote controller 404.

The tuner 405 selects a Radio Frequency (RF) broadcast signalcorresponding to a channel selected by a user from among RF broadcastsignals received through an antenna and converts the selected RFbroadcast signal into an Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal or abaseband video or audio signal. The selected RF broadcast signal mayinclude a real-time broadcast program and broadcast information aboutthe real-time broadcast program.

The demodulator 410 receives a Digital IF (DIF) signal converted by thetuner 405 and performs a demodulation operation.

The demodulator 410 may also perform channel decoding. To this end, thedemodulator 410 may include a Trellis decoder, a deinterleaver, or aReed Solomon decoder to perform Trellis decoding, deinterleaving, orReed Solomon decoding.

After demodulating and channel decoding, the demodulator 410 maygenerate a Transport Stream (TS) signal. The stream signal may be asignal obtained by multiplexing a video signal, an audio signal, or adata signal.

The demultiplexer 415 may receive stream signals from the demodulator410, the network interface 420, and the external signal input unit 425.The demultiplexer 415 may demultiplex the received stream signals intothe video signal, audio signal, and data signal and output thedemultiplexed image, audio, and data signals to the video decoder 430,the audio decoder 435, and the controller 440, respectively.

The video decoder 430 receives the video signal from the demultiplexer415, restores the received video signal, and outputs the restored videosignal to the display 402 or the scaler 450. Here, the video signal mayinclude a stereoscopic video signal.

The audio decoder 435 receives the audio signal from the demultiplexer415, restores the received audio signal, and outputs the restored audiosignal to the display 402 or the scaler 450.

The network interface 420 receives packets received from the network 2and transmits the packets to the network 2. The network interface 420may receive content from the second server 20, the first digital TV 100,the second digital TV 110, the personal computer system 120, thenotebook computer 130, and the mobile terminal 140 through the network2. Here, the content may include applications, moving picture streams,moving picture files, music files, picture files, etc. The networkinterface 420 may receive an IP packet for transmitting broadcast datafrom a service providing server through the network 2. The broadcastdata may be real-time broadcast service data or Internet service data.

If the IP packet includes a stream signal, the network interface 420 mayextract the stream signal from the IP packet and output the extractedstream signal to the demultiplexer 415. Here, the stream signal may bereceived from the second server 20, the first digital TV 100, the seconddigital TV 110, the personal computer system 120, the notebook computer130, and the mobile terminal 140.

The network interface 420 may output signals and received content to thecontroller 440.

The external signal input unit 425 may provide an interface or a userinterface for connecting an external device to the electronic device400. The external device refers to a device for outputting various typesof images and voice, such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player, aBlu-ray disc player, a game console, a camcorder, a computer (notebook),etc. The electronic device 400 may control video signals and audiosignals received from the external signal input unit 425 to be displayedand may store or use data signals.

The external device may be the capture device 401. The capture device401 may include a plurality of cameras. The capture device 401 maycapture images of human beings. The capture device 401 may recognize,focus on, and zoom in on a human hand shape to capture the hand shape.The captured hand shape may be recognized as a spatial gesture. That is,the controller 440 may recognize the captured hand shape as the spatialgesture and execute commands for performing operations related to therecognized spatial gesture. The spatial gesture may be defined as agesture recognized from an image frame or an image received from thecapture device 401, mapped to one or more specific computing operations.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 400 may include the capturedevice 401.

The external signal input unit 425 may be a touch pad or a touchscreen.The touchscreen may be integrated into the display 402 or may be anelement separate from the display 402. If the touchscreen is integratedinto the display 402, the display 402 may be referred to as atouchscreen display. As the touchscreen is disposed at the front part ofthe display 402, users may directly manipulate a Graphical UserInterface (GUI) displayed on the screen of the display 402. For example,users may put their finger on an object to be controlled.

The touch pad is generally separate from the display 402. For example,the display 402 is generally placed on a vertical plane and the touchpad is generally placed on a horizontal place. Such a location of thetouch pad causes a user to be less intuitive and, therefore, it is moredifficult to use the touch pad than the touchscreen.

The touch pad and the touchscreen may be a multi-point input device.

The controller 440 may recognize a touch gesture pressed onto theexternal signal input unit 425 and control the electronic device 400based on the touch gesture. The touch gesture may be defined asinteraction formularized with the external signal input unit 425, mappedto one or more specific computing operations. The touch gesture may bemade by hand, in more detail, through finger motion. Alternatively or inaddition thereto, the touch gesture may be made using a stylus. Here, asubject implementing the touch gesture, such as a finger or a stylus, iscalled an object.

The external signal input unit 425 receives a touch gesture and thecontroller 440 executes commands for performing operations related tothe touch gesture. Furthermore, the storage unit 445 may store a gestureoperating program which may be a part of an operating system or anadditional application. The gesture operating program generally includesa series of commands for recognizing the occurrence of a gesture (touchgesture or spatial gesture) and informing one or more software agents ofthe gesture and/or which actions should be taken in response to thegesture.

If a user makes one or more gestures, the external signal input unit 425transmits gesture information to the controller 440. The controller 440interprets the touch gestures using the commands, more specifically, thegesture operating program stored in the storage unit 445 and controlsdifferent components of the electronic device 400 such as the display402, demultiplexer 415, network interface 420, external signal inputunit 425, storage unit 445, scaler 450, mixer 460, formatter 470, andsound sensor 490. The gestures may be identified as commands forperforming an operation of an application stored in the storage unit445, correcting a GUI object appearing on the display 402, correctingdata stored in the storage unit 445, and performing operations in thedemultiplexer 415, network interface 420, scaler 450, mixer 460, andformatter 470. For example, such commands may be associated with zoom,panning, scrolling, page skip, rotation, size adjustment, image channelchange, content reception, Internet access, etc.

Various different touch gestures may be used. For example, a touchgesture may be a single-point or multi-point gesture, a static ordynamic gesture, a continuous or segmented gesture, and/or othergestures. The single-point gesture refers to a gesture made by a singlecontact point, for example, one finger, palm, or stylus. The multi-pointgesture is made by a plurality of points, for example, fingers, a fingerand a palm, a finger and a stylus, a plurality of styluses, and/or acombination thereof. The static gesture refers to a gesture which doesnot include motion and the dynamic gesture refers to a gesture includingmotion. The continuous gesture is made by a single stroke and thesegmented gesture is made by separate steps or a sequence of strokes.

Contact between an object and a touchscreen has different patterns. Forexample, a single-point gesture on the touchscreen includes a down eventand a subsequent up event at the same location or almost the samelocation as the down event. A dynamic gesture on the touchscreenincludes a down event, at least one subsequent drag event, and asubsequent event.

In some embodiments, a parameter is used to describe a process in whicha finger approaches a touchscreen display, contacts the touchscreendisplay, and is removed from the touchscreen display. The parameter maybe a function of at least one of a distance between the finer and thetouchscreen display, a pressure exerted by the finger onto thetouchscreen display, a contact area between the finger and thetouchscreen display, a voltage between the finger and the touchscreendisplay, a capacitance between the finger and the touchscreen display,or other physical parameters.

In some embodiments, if the magnitude of a parameter (e.g. capacitance)between the finger and the touchscreen display exceeds a predeterminedthreshold value, a down event occurs. If a cursor location correspondingto the finger is moved to a location B from a location A while themagnitude of the parameter exceeds the predetermined threshold value, adrag event occurs. When the magnitude of the parameter is lowered belowthe predetermined threshold value, an up event occurs.

The controller 440 executes commands and performs operation related tothe electronic device 400. For example, the controller 440 may controlinput and output between components of the electronic device 400 andreception and processing of data, using the commands searched from thestorage unit 445. The controller 440 may be implemented on a singlechip, a plurality of chips, or a plurality of electric elements. Forexample, a dedicated or embedded processor, a single purpose processor,a controller, an ASIC, etc. may be used for the controller 440. Thecontroller 440 may include at least one processor.

The controller 440 may detect a user action and control the electronicdevice 400 based on the detected user action. The user action mayinclude selection of a physical button of a display or a remotecontroller, implementation of a prescribed touch gesture or selection ofa soft button on a touchscreen display, implementation of a prescribedspatial gesture recognized from an image captured from a capture device,and implementation of prescribed speaking recognized through voicerecognition with respect to a voice signal received by the sound sensor490. The controller 400 may interpret the user action as at least oneimplementable command. The controller 400 may control the components ofthe electronic device 400 in response to the at least one interpretedcommand. That is, the controller 440 may control input and outputbetween the components of the electronic device 400 and reception andprocessing of data, using the at least one command.

The controller 440 executes computer code together with an OperatingSystem (OS) and generates and uses data. The OS is generally known and adetailed description thereof will not be given. For example, the OS maybe a Windows series OS, Unix, Linux, Palm OS, DOS, Android, and Mac OS.The OS, other computer code, and data may be included in the storageunit 445 which operates in association with the controller 440.

The storage unit 445 generally provides a place for storing program codeand data used by the electronic device 400. For example, the storageunit 445 may be implemented as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random AccessMemory (RAM), or a hard disk drive. The program code and data may bestored in a removable storage medium and, if necessary, may be loaded toor installed in the electronic device 400. The removable storage mediumincludes a CD-ROM, PC card, a memory card, a floppy disc, a magnetictape, or a network component.

The scaler 450 scales signals processed by the video decoder 430 and theaudio decoder 435 to signals of a proper size so as to be output throughthe display 402 or a speaker (not shown).

The scaler 450 adjusts and outputs an aspect ratio of a GUI, an image, astereoscopic image, or a combination of at least two thereof, accordingto the type of displayed content or user setting. The aspect ratio maybe a value of 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, or 3:2. The scaler 450 may adjust ahorizontal screen length and a vertical screen length to have a specificratio.

The mixer 460 mixes the outputs of the scaler 450 and the controller440.

The formatter 470 converts image and audio signals generated from themixer 460 into signals suitable for an output format of the display 402.If a 2D image is displayed, the formatter 470 passes input signalswithout performing the above conversion function. If a stereoscopicimage is displayed, the formatter 470 may function as a 3D formatter forprocessing input signals into a 3D format suitable for a format of thestereoscopic image and an output frequency of the display 402 under thecontrol of the controller 440.

The formatter 470 outputs the converted image signal for a stereoscopicimage to the display 402 and generates a synchronization signal for theoutput stereoscopic image signal, which is output to the communicationunit 480. The synchronization signal is a signal for synchronizing adisplay time of a left-eye viewpoint image or a right-eye viewpointimage with an opening and closing time of a left-eye lens and aright-eye lens of the shutter glasses 403.

The communication unit 480 is a communication module for providingtwo-way omnidirectional (or non-directional) communication and performswireless communication with other communication devices through acommunication scheme according to a predetermined communicationspecification. The communication specification may be ZigBee, Bluetooth,Ultra Wideband (UWB), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or WirelessLAN. The communication device may be the electronic device 400, theglasses 403, and the remote controller 404.

The communication unit 480 may include an infrared receiver which iscapable of receiving infrared data from the remote controller 404.

The sound sensor 490 may receive voice and output the received voice tothe controller 440. The controller 440 may recognize voice output by thesound sensor 490 and control the electronic device 400 based on therecognized voice.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an initialscreen of an electronic device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the display 402 may display a screen 500. Thescreen 500 may be an initial screen of the electronic device 400. Thecontroller 440 may control the initial screen 500 to be displayed whenthe electronic device 400 is first booted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a GUI forreceiving user registration information.

Referring to FIG. 6, the display 402 may display a screen 600. Thescreen 600 displays a GUI for receiving user registration information ofthe electronic device 400.

A user may enter a user identifier (or user ID) 610 and a password 620through the GUI 600. The user identifier and password input through theGUI 600 may be stored in at least one of the electronic device 400 orthe server 10 and may be used as login information of at least one ofthe electronic device 400 or the server 10.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a logininitial screen of an electronic device according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the display 402 may display a screen 700. Thescreen 700 is a login initial screen of an electronic device. If loginto the electronic device is successful, the controller 440 may controlthe screen 700 to be displayed.

The screen may include a content display region 710 and an active region720. The content display region 710 displays content. The active region720 may include a menu region 721 for selecting an SNS server orservices and a page region 725 for displaying a display page related toa service. The menu region 721 includes icons 731, 732, 733, and 734 forselecting specific services and the page region 725 displays feeds 741and 743 included in the display page.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a logoutscreen of an electronic device according to, the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the display 402 may display a screen 800. Thescreen 800 is a logout screen of an electronic device. If a user logsout from the electronic device, the controller 440 may control thescreen 800 to be displayed.

The screen 800 may include a content display region 810 and a login GUIregion 820. The login GUI region 820 includes a button for generating anew user identifier and buttons 825, 826, 827, and 828 for selectingpreviously generated user identifiers.

The electronic device 400 provides environments which can be used by aplurality of users. The electronic device 400 may generate and manage auser identifier with respect to each of a plurality of users.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a loginscreen of an electronic device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the display 402 displays a screen 900. Upondetecting a user action for selecting the button 825 of the screen 800,the controller 440 may control the screen 900 to be displayed inresponse to detecting of the user action.

The screen 900 displays a user identifier 910 related to the selectedbutton 825 and an input box 920 for receiving a password of the useridentifier 910.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of alogin screen of an electronic device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the display 402 displays a screen 1000. Thecontroller 440 may display the screen 1000 as a login screen. Thecontroller 440 may control the screen 1000 to be displayed when anelectronic device is booted.

The screen 1000 includes an input box 1010 for receiving a useridentifier and a check box 1030 for setting an automatic sign-infunction.

If the check box 1030 is checked, the controller 440 controls a sign-infunction to be automatically performed. The automatic sign-in functionrefers to a function for automatically performing login to an SNS serverthrough an SNS account related to the user identifier.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screenfor logging in to an SNS server in an electronic device according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the display 402 may display a screen 1100. Thescreen 1100 is a screen for logging in to an SNS server in an electronicdevice. The screen 1100 may be displayed when a user action forselecting one of the icons 731, 732, 733, and 734 of the screen 700 isdetected. Alternatively, the screen 110 may be displayed as a logininitial screen of the electronic device.

The screen 1100 includes a content display region 1110, an active region1120, and a recommendation button 1160 for recommending content. A usermay perform an action for requesting content recommendation by selectingthe recommendation button 1160.

The active region 1120 includes a menu region 1121 and a page region1125. The page region 1125 displays a GUI 1140 for receivingauthentication information for login to the SNS server indicated by aselected icon 1131.

Authentication information input on the GUI 1140 may be stored in thestorage unit 445. The storage unit 445 may store a currently logged-inuser identifier and the authentication information input on the GUI 1140to be associated with each other.

The controller 440 may control the currently logged-in user identifierand the authentication information input on the GUI 1140 to betransmitted to the server 10. The server 10 may store the received useridentifier and authentication information to be associated with eachother.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen for logging in to an SNS server in an electronic device accordingto the present invention

Referring to FIG. 12, the display 402 displays a screen 1200. The screen1200 may be a screen displayed when an icon 1133 is selected from themenu region 1121 of the screen 1100 of FIG. 11. A GUI 1240 serves toreceive authentication information for login to an SNS server indicatedby the selected icon 1133.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen for logging in to an SNS server in an electronic deviceaccording to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, the display 402 displays a screen 1300. The screen1300 may be a screen displayed when an icon 1132 is selected from themenu region 1121 of the screen 1100 of FIG. 11. A GUI 1340 serves toreceive authentication information for login to an SNS server indicatedby the selected icon 1132.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service after account linkage with an SNS server in alogged in state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 14, the controller 440 detects a user action forrequesting content recommendation under the state that a user logs in toan electronic device using a user identifier ‘Michha’ 1410 (step S141).Here, the user action may be an action for selecting a “Like” button1415 and recommended content may be content displayed on a currentscreen.

The controller 440 displays a content recommendation confirmationmessage 1420 on the screen in response to the detected user action. Thecontent recommendation confirmation message 1420 includes a useridentifier 1421, content information 1422 about recommended content, athumbnail 1423 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 1424, and a“Go check” button 1425. In some embodiments, the content recommendationconfirmation message 1420 includes at least one of the user identifier1421, the content information 1422 about recommended content, thethumbnail 1423 of the recommended content, the “OK” button 1424, or the“Go check” button 1425.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 1424 (stepS142), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 1420 to appear from the screen. The display 402 maycontinue to display the screen which is a screen prior to display of thecontent recommendation confirmation message 1420.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 1425,the controller 440 controls a screen 1430 to be displayed. The screen1430 is a screen displayed in an active mode and includes a contentdisplay region 1431 and a page region 1435. The page region 1435displays a display page including a feed 1451 associated with thecontent recommended in step S141.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service before account linkage with an SNS server in alogged in state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 15, the controller 440 detects a user action forrequesting content recommendation under the state that a user logs in toan electronic device using a user identifier ‘Michha’ (step S151). Here,the user action may be an action for selecting a “Like” button 1515 andrecommended content may be content displayed on a current screen.

The controller 440 may confirm whether the user has logged in to an SNSserver in response to the detected user action. If the user has notlogged in to the SNS server, the controller 440 controls a message 1520for requesting login to the SNS server to be displayed.

Upon detecting a user action for requesting text input (step S152), thecontroller 440 may control a virtual keyboard 1530 to be displayed.

If the user completes authentication information input for login to theSNS server (S153), the controller 440 displays a content recommendationconfirmation message 1540 on a screen. The content recommendationconfirmation message 1540 includes a user identifier 1541, contentinformation 1542 about recommended content, a thumbnail 1543 of therecommended content, an “OK” button 1544, and a “Go check” button 1545.In some embodiments, the content recommendation confirmation message1540 includes at least one of the user identifier 1541, the contentinformation 1542 about recommended content, the thumbnail 1543 of therecommended content, the “OK” button 1544, or the “Go check” button1545.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 1544 (stepS154), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 1540 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen prior to display of the contentrecommendation confirmation message 1420.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 1525,the controller 440 controls a screen 1550 to be displayed. The screen1550 includes a content display region 1551 and a page region 1555. Thepage region 1555 displays a display page including a feed 1561associated with the content recommended in step S151. The displayeddisplay page may be received from the SNS server to which the user haslogged in in step S153.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service after account linkage with an SNS server in alogged out state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 16, the controller 440 detects a user action forrequesting content recommendation under the state that a user has notlogged in to an electronic device (step S161). Here, the user action maybe an action for selecting a “Like” button 1615 and recommended contentmay be content displayed on a current screen.

The controller 440 may confirm whether the user has logged in to theelectronic device in response to the detected user action. If the userhas not logged in to the electronic device, the controller 440 controlsa message 1620 for requesting login to the electronic device to bedisplayed.

Upon detecting a user action for requesting login (step S162), thecontroller 440 may control a GUI 1630 for receiving authenticationinformation to be displayed on a screen.

If the user completes authentication information input for login to theelectronic device (step S163), the controller 440 displays a contentrecommendation confirmation message 1640 on a screen. The contentrecommendation confirmation message 1640 includes a user identifier1641, content information 1642 about recommended content, a thumbnail1643 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 1644, and a “Go check”button 1645. Here, the user identifier 1641 may be input through the GUI1630. In some embodiments, the content recommendation confirmationmessage 1640 includes at least one of the user identifier 1641, thecontent information 1642 about recommended content, the thumbnail 1643of the recommended content, the “OK” button 1644, or the “Go check”button 1645.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 1644 (stepS164), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 1640 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen prior to display of the contentrecommendation confirmation message 1640.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service before account linkage with an SNS server in alogged out state of an electronic device according to the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 17, the controller 440 detects a user action forrequesting content recommendation under the state that a user has notlogged in to an electronic device (step S171). Here, the user action maybe an action for selecting a “Like” button 1715 and recommended contentmay be content displayed on a current screen.

The controller 440 may confirm whether the user has logged in to theelectronic device in response to the detected user action. If the userhas not logged in to the electronic device, the controller 440 controlsa message 1720 for requesting login to the electronic device to bedisplayed.

Upon detecting a user action for requesting login (step S172), thecontroller 440 may control a GUI 1730 for receiving authenticationinformation to be displayed on a screen.

If the user completes authentication information input for login to theelectronic device (step S173), the controller 440 may confirm whetherthe user has logged in to an SNS server. If the user has not logged into the SNS server, the controller 440 controls a message 1740 forrequesting login to the SNS server to be displayed.

Upon detecting a user action for requesting text input (step S174), thecontroller 440 may control a virtual keyboard 1750 to be displayed on ascreen.

If the user completes authentication information input for login to theSNS server (step S175), the controller 440 controls a contentrecommendation confirmation message 1760 to be displayed on the screen.The content recommendation confirmation message 1760 includes a useridentifier 1761, content information 1762 about recommended content, athumbnail 1763 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 1764, and a“Go check” button 1765. Here, the user identifier 1761 may be inputthrough the GUI 1730. In some embodiments, the content recommendationconfirmation message 1760 includes at least one of the user identifier1761, the content information 1762 about recommended content, thethumbnail 1763 of the recommended content, the “OK” button 1764, or the“Go check” button 1765.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 1764 (stepS176), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 1760 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen prior to display of the contentrecommendation confirmation message 1760.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 1765,the controller 440 controls a screen 1770 to be displayed. The screen1770 includes a content display region 1771 and a page region 1775. Thepage region 1775 displays a display page including a feed 1451associated with the content recommended in step S171. Here, thedisplayed display page may be received from the SNS server to which theuser logs in using the authentication information.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a content recommendation confirmation message is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 18, the display 402 displays a screen 1800. The screen1800 corresponds to a screen on which a content recommendationconfirmation message 1810 is displayed in the state that content 1801 isdisplayed in an active mode. The content recommendation confirmationmessage 1810 includes content information 1811 about the content, athumbnail 1813, and an editing execution button 1815. Here, thethumbnail 1813 may be obtained by capturing an image of contentdisplayed when a user action for requesting content recommendation isdetected.

A user may edit the content information 1811 through a user action forselecting the editing execution button 1815.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a GUI for information editing is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 19, the display 402 displays a screen 1900. The screen1900 may be displayed when a user action for selecting the editingexecution button 1815 of the screen 1800 is detected.

The screen 1900 includes a GUI 1910 for information editing.

The GUI 1910 includes an image editing tab 1911 and a text editing tab1915. The GUI 1910 on which the image editing tab 1911 has been selectedis displayed on the screen 1900. A user may delete the thumbnail 1920,replace the thumbnail 1920 with another thumbnail, and edit thethumbnail 1920, using the GUI 1910.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a GUI for information editing is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 20, the display 402 displays a screen 2000. The screen2000 may be displayed when a user action for selecting the editingexecution button 1815 of the screen 1800 is detected.

The screen 2000 includes a GUI 2010 for information editing.

The GUI 2010 includes an image editing tab 2010 and a text editing tab2015. On the screen 2000 is displayed the GUI 2010 on which the textediting tab 2015 has been selected. A user may input and edit a contentdescription 2020 using the GUI 2010.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a display page is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 21, the display 402 displays a screen 2100. The screen2100 displays a display page 2110. The display page 2110 may be receivedfrom an SNS server.

The display page 2110 includes a plurality of feeds 2111, 2112, and2113. The feed 2111 includes the content information 1811 and thumbnail1813 included in the content recommendation confirmation message 1810 ofthe screen 1800 of FIG. 18. The feed 2111 also includes the contentdescription 2020 of the screen 2000 of FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich content is displayed in a fullscreen mode.

Referring to FIG. 22, the display 402 displays a screen 2200. The screen2200 displays content 2201 in a fullscreen mode. The screen 2200includes a “Like” button 2210 for recommending displayed content. A usermay take an action for requesting content recommendation by selectingthe “Like” button 2210 or a specific key on a remote controller.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a content recommendation confirmation message is displayed in afullscreen mode.

Referring to FIG. 23, the display 402 displays a screen 2300. The screen2300 corresponds to a screen on which a content recommendationconfirmation message 2310 is displayed in a fullscreen mode. Thecontroller 440 may control the screen 2300 to be displayed when a useraction for requesting content recommendation is detected under the statethe screen 2200 of FIG. 22 is displayed.

The content recommendation confirmation message 2310 includes an image2315 of the content 2201 displayed on the screen 2200 in the form of athumbnail.

FIG. 24 is a diagram explaining an exemplary embodiment of a process inwhich a content recommendation confirmation message disappears.

Referring to FIG. 24, a content recommendation confirmation message 2410displayed on a screen may disappear after a predetermined time. Thecontent recommendation confirmation message 2410 may disappear whilemoving in a direction 2455 towards a location 2451 at which a specificicon 2422 of a menu region 2420 is present. The specific icon 2422 maybe an icon for displaying a display page of an SNS server. The displaypage may include a feed which contains details of recommendation aboutcontent recommended by the content recommendation confirmation message2410.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screendisplayed in the execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 25, the display 402 displays a screen 2510. The screen2510 displays a page including a detailed description of video content2511. The page may be a web page or an execution screen of anapplication.

Under the state that the screen 2510 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for requesting content recommendation (step S251).The user action may be an action for selecting a “Like” button 2515.Here, recommended content may be the content 2511 displayed on thescreen 2510.

The controller 440 displays a content recommendation confirmationmessage 2520 on the screen in response to the detected user action. Thecontent recommendation confirmation message 2520 includes a useridentifier 2521, content information 2522 about recommended content, athumbnail 2523 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 2524, and a“Go check” button 2525. The user identifier 2521 may be an identifier ofa user logged in to an electronic device and the thumbnail 2523 may be athumbnail 2511.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 2524 (stepS252), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 2520 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen 2510 which is a screen prior todisplay of the content recommendation confirmation message 2520.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 2525,the controller 440 controls a screen 2530 to be displayed. The screen2530 includes a display region 2531 and a page region 2535. The pageregion 2535 displays a display page including a feed 2561 associatedwith content recommended in step S251. Here, the displayed display pagemay be received from an SNS server.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen displayed in the execution process of a method for providing acontent recommendation service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 26, the display 402 displays a screen 2610. The screen2610 displays a page including a detailed description of an application2611. The page may be a web page or an execution screen of anapplication.

Under the state that the screen 2610 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for requesting content recommendation (step S261).The user action may be an action for selecting a “Like” button 2615.Here, recommended content may be the content 2611 displayed on thescreen 2610.

The controller 440 displays a content recommendation confirmationmessage 2620 on the screen in response to the detected user action. Thecontent recommendation confirmation message 2620 includes a useridentifier 2621, content information 2622 about recommended content, athumbnail 2623 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 2624, and a“Go check” button 2625. The user identifier 2621 may be an identifier ofa user logged in to an electronic device and the thumbnail 2623 may be athumbnail 2611.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 2624 (stepS262), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 2620 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen 2610 which is a screen prior todisplay of the content recommendation confirmation message 2620.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 2625,the controller 440 controls a screen 2630 to be displayed. The screen2630 includes a display region 2631 and a page region 2635. The pageregion 2635 displays a display page including a feed 2661 associatedwith content recommended in step S261. Here, the displayed display pagemay be received from an SNS server.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen displayed in the execution process of a method for providing acontent recommendation service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 27, the display 402 displays a screen 2710. The screen2710 displays a page including a detailed description of Video On Demand(VOD) content 2711. The page may be a web page or an execution screen ofan application.

Under the state that the screen 2710 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for requesting content recommendation (step S271).The user action may be an action for selecting a “Like” button 2715.Here, recommended content may the content 2711 displayed on the screen2510.

The controller 440 displays a content recommendation confirmationmessage 2720 on the screen in response to the detected user action. Thecontent recommendation confirmation message 2720 includes a useridentifier 2721, content information 2722 about recommended content, athumbnail 2723 of the recommended content, an “OK” button 2724, and a“Go check” button 2725. The user identifier 2721 may be an identifier ofa user logged in to an electronic device and the thumbnail 2723 may bethe thumbnail 2711.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “OK” button 2724 (stepS272), the controller 440 controls the content recommendationconfirmation message 2720 to disappear from the screen. The display 402may continue to display the screen 2710 which is a screen prior todisplay of the content recommendation confirmation message 2570.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the “Go check” button 2725,the controller 440 a screen 2730 to be displayed. The screen 2730includes a display region 2731 and a page region 2735. The page region2735 displays a display page including a feed 2761 associated withcontent recommended in step S271. Here, the displayed display page maybe received from an SNS server.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a screen on which a real-timebroadcast is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 28, the display 402 displays a screen 2800. The screen2800 displays a real-time broadcast program 2810.

When the screen 2800 is displayed, the controller 440 may detect a useraction for requesting content recommendation. The user action may be anaction for selecting a “Like” button 2805. Here, recommended content maybe the real-time broadcast program 2810 displayed on the screen 2800.

In response to the detected user action, the controller 440 may displaythe content recommendation confirmation message 1810 of FIG. 18. Thecontent information 2811 of the content recommendation confirmationmessage 1810 may include broadcast information about the real-timebroadcast program 2810 and the thumbnail 1813 may be a thumbnail of thedisplayed image 2810.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a screen on which Video On Demand(VOD) content is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 28, the display 402 displays a screen 2900. The screen2900 displays VOD content 2910.

When the screen 2900 is displayed, the controller 440 may detect a useraction for requesting content recommendation. The user action may be anaction for selecting a “Like” button 2905. Here, recommended content maybe the VOD content 2910 displayed on the screen 2800.

In response to detecting of the user action, the controller 440 maydisplay the content recommendation confirmation message 1810 of FIG. 18.The content information 2811 of the content recommendation confirmationmessage 1810 may include content information about the VOD content 2910and the thumbnail 1813 may be a thumbnail of the displayed image 2910.

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a message indicating content recommended by other users isdisplayed.

Referring to FIG. 30, the display 402 displays a screen 3000. The screen3000 is an exemplary screen on which a content recommendationnotification message 3010 is displayed in an active mode. The contentrecommendation notification message 3010 includes a username 3011 of auser who recommends content, a recommended content name 3012, and a userthumbnail 3013. In some embodiments, the content recommendationnotification message 3010 may include at least one of the username 3011,the recommended content name 3012, or the user thumbnail 3013.

The network interface 420 may receive a message indicating contentrecommendation from an SNS server. The message may include a contentrecommendation username, a content name, a user thumbnail, and a feedindicator of a display page. The feed indicator indicates a feedassociated with content recommended by the user. Upon receipt of themessage, the controller 440 may control the content recommendationnotification message 3010 to be displayed. Upon receiving a content postrelay message from the server 10, the SNS server may transmit a messageindicating content recommendation to an electronic device of an SNSuser.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the content recommendationnotification message 3010, the controller 440 directs focus toward afeed of a display page associated with the content recommendationnotification message 3010. The associated feed may be a feed indicatedby a feed indicator included in the message indicating contentrecommendation.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a message indicating content recommended by other usersis displayed.

Referring to FIG. 31, the display 402 displays a screen 3100. The screen3100 is an exemplary screen on which a content recommendationnotification message 3110 is displayed in a fullscreen mode.

Upon detecting a user action for selecting the content recommendationnotification message 3110, the controller 440 switches a screen modefrom the fullscreen mode to an active mode. The controller 440 directsfocus towards a feed of a display page associated with the contentrecommendation message 3110 in response to detecting of the user action.The associated feed may be a feed indicated by a feed indicator includedin a message indicating content recommendation.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of data flowin an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 32, the controller 440 may include an application3210, a system manager 3220, and a relay manager 3230. In someembodiments, the application 3210, the system manager 3220, and therelay manager 3230 may be a process executed in the controller 440.

The application 3210 displays content 3211. The content 3211 may includeat least one of text, image content, audio content, video content,real-time broadcast program, or an application. The application 3210 maybe a web browser, a content player, or a dedicated application.

The application 3210 detects a user action for requesting recommendationof the content 3211. The application 3210 extracts content informationabout the content 3211 in response to the detected user action. Theapplication 3210 captures at least part of displayed images of thecontent 3211.

The application 3210 transfers the extracted content information and thecaptured image to the system manager 3220. The content information mayinclude at least one of content post information or content playbackinformation. The content post information may include at least one of acountry code, a region code, a content name, a content module name, or aweb URL. The content playback information may include at least one ofcontent type information, an audio ID (or an audio identifier), acontent ID (or a content identifier), a channel name, a physical channelnumber, a major channel number, a minor channel number, a source index,a start time, or an end time. The captured image may be included in acontent thumbnail binary.

The system manager 3220 checks whether a user has logged in to anelectronic device. If the user has not logged in to the electronicdevice, the system manager 3220 displays a login User Interface (UI)3221. The login UI 3221 may be the GUI 1630 shown in FIG. 16. The systemmanager 3220 may process the execution process shown in FIG. 16.

The system manager 3220 checks whether the user has logged in to an SNSserver. If the user has not logged in to the SNS server, the systemmanager 3220 displays a login UI 3225. The login UI 3225 may be themessage 1520 shown in FIG. 15. The system manager 3220 may process theexecution process shown in FIG. 15

The system manager 3220 transmits, to the relay manager 3230, at leastone of content information, an image, a user identifier of a user loggedin to the electronic device, a session identifier for identifying asession with the SNS server, or a session identifier secret, transferredby the application 3210.

In some embodiments, the application 3210 may check whether the user haslogged in to the electronic device and the SNS server and may displaythe login Uls 3221 and 3225.

The relay manager 3230 transmits, to an SNS gateway 210, contentinformation, an image, a user identifier, a session identifier, and asession identifier secret, transferred by the system manager 3220.

The SNS gateway 210 receives the content information, image, useridentifier, session identifier, and session identifier secret from therelay manager 3230. The SNS gateway 210 then assigns metadata ID to thereceived content information and transmits the metadata ID, contentinformation, image, and user identifier to a metadata management server220. The metadata management server 220 stores the metadata ID, contentinformation, image, and user identifier in a storage region 3250 inassociation with each other.

The SNS gateway 210 stores the metadata ID, the user identifier, an SNSaccount related to a session identifier, and content information in astorage region 3240 in association with each other.

The SNS gateway 210 transmits the metadata ID, content information, andimage to an SNS server 20 through a session indicated by the sessionidentifier. The SNS server 20 generates a display page which includes afeed for recommending content indicated by a content ID in the contentinformation or updates an existing display page so that the updateddisplay page includes the feed. The SNS gateway 210 may transmit acontent post relay message including the metadata ID, contentinformation, and image to the SNS server 20.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating an execution process of an exemplaryembodiment of a method for providing a content recommendation serviceaccording to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 33, the display 401 displays content (step S330). Thedisplayed content may include at least one of text, image content, audiocontent, video content, real-time broadcast program, or an application.The content may be displayed on a web page, may be a search result, ormay be a page on which a detailed description of the content isdisplayed. The content may be displayed in a fullscreen mode or anactive mode.

The controller 440 detects a user action for requesting recommendationof the content (step S331).

The controller 440 extracts content information about the contentdisplayed on a screen in response to the detected user action (S332).The extracted content information may include at least one of contentpost information or content playback information.

If the displayed content is a real-time broadcast program, the contentinformation may include at least one of a photo of a user recommendingthe content, a username, active type information indicating contentrecommendation, a title, a broadcast screen, content type informationindicating the real-time broadcast program, a channel number of thereal-time broadcast program, a name of a broadcasting stationbroadcasting the real-time broadcast program, or a title of thereal-time broadcast program.

If the displayed content is an application, the content information mayinclude at least one of a photo of a user recommending the content, ausername, active type information indicating content recommendation, atitle, an application photo, content type information indicating theapplication, an application ID, or a URL.

If the displayed content is VOD content, the content information mayinclude at least one of a photo of a user recommending the content, ausername, active type information indicating content recommendation, aVOD content photo, content type information indicating the VOD content,or a URL.

If the displayed content is a search result, the content information mayinclude at least one of a photo of a user recommending the content, ausername, active type information indicating content recommendation, acontent title included in the search result, a content photo included inthe search result, content type information indicating a type of contentincluded in the search result, an application ID, a content ID, or aURL.

If the displayed content is a page displaying a detailed description ofthe content, the content information may include at least one of a photoof a user recommending the content, a username, active type informationindicating content recommendation, a content title included in the page,a content photo included in the page, content type informationindicating a type of content included in the page, an application ID, acontent ID, or a URL.

The display 402 displays a content recommendation confirmation message(step S333). The content recommendation confirmation message may includethe recommendation confirmation message 1420 of FIG. 14, therecommendation confirmation message 1540 of FIG. 15, the recommendationconfirmation message 1640 of FIG. 16, the recommendation confirmationmessage 1760 of FIG. 17, or the recommendation confirmation message 1810of FIG. 18. The content recommendation confirmation message may alsoinclude the execution process of FIG. 14, the execution process of FIG.15, the execution process of FIG. 16, or the execution process of FIG.17.

Step S333 may further include a step of obtaining ID information. The IDinformation may include at least one of a user identifier, a sessionidentifier for identifying a session with an SNS server, or a sessionidentifier secret. Step S333 may further include a step of obtaining asession identifier for identifying a session with an SNS to which a userhas logged in and a session identifier secret and a step of obtaining auser identifier of a user who has logged in to the electronic device400.

Step S333 may further include a step of capturing at least part of thedisplayed content and a step of recording part of the displayed content.

The controller 440 detects a user action for requesting editing (stepS334). The user action may be an action for selecting the editingexecution button 1815 of the recommendation confirmation message 1810 ofFIG. 18.

The controller 440 controls a GUI for editing to be displayed inresponse to the detected user action (step S335). The displayed GUI maybe the GUI 1910 of FIG. 19 or the GUI 2010 of FIG. 20. A user may editcontent information through the GUI.

The controller 440 generates a content post request message includingthe extracted content information, the obtained ID information, and theedited information (step S336).

The network interface 420 transmits the generated content post requestmessage to the relay server 10 (step S337).

The network interface 420 receives feed data or a display page from theSNS server 20 (step S338). The received feed data may be for displayinga feed associated with the content post request message and the receiveddisplay page may include a feed associated with the content post requestmessage. The feed includes details of recommendation of the contentdisplayed in step S330. The display page may be automatically receivedfrom the SNS server 20 or may be transmitted when requested.

The display 402 displays the received display page (step S339). Thedisplay page may include the display page 2110 of FIG. 21, the displaypage 2535 of FIG. 25, the display page 2635 of FIG. 26, or the displaypage 2735 of FIG. 27.

FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich a function associated with a feed is executed.

Referring to FIG. 34, upon detecting a user action for selecting a feed3410 of a display page 3400, the controller 440 controls a screen 3460or a screen 3470 to be displayed in response to the detected useraction. The screen 3460 displays a real-time broadcast programrecommended by the feed 3410 in an active mode. The screen 3470 displaysthe real-time broadcast program in a fullscreen mode. Here, the title ofthe real-time broadcast program recommended by the feed 3410 is “EndlessChallenge 1”.

If the real-time broadcast program recommended by the feed 3410 cannotbe displayed, the controller 440 may control a message 3480 indicatingthat the real-time broadcast program cannot be broadcast to bedisplayed. The message 3480 indicates that the real-time broadcastprogram cannot be broadcast because a service is not available in acorresponding region.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of ascreen on which a function associated with a feed is executed.

Referring to FIG. 35, upon detecting a user action for selecting a feed3420 of the display page 3400, the controller 440 controls a screen 3560to be displayed in response to the detected user action. The screen 3560may be a screen on which content recommended by the feed 3420 isexecuted or a page for purchase is displayed. The content recommended bythe feed 3420 is a music video entitled “Girls' Generation Tokyo MusicFestival 2010”.

FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating still another exemplary embodiment ofa screen on which a function associated with a feed is executed.

Referring to FIG. 36, upon detecting a user action for selecting a feed3430 of the display page 3400, the controller 440 displays a screen 3660to be displayed in response to the detected user action. The screen 3660may be a screen on which content recommended by the feed 3430 isexecuted or a page for purchase is displayed. The content recommended bythe feed 3430 is a web entitled “iChristmas”.

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a further exemplary embodiment of ascreen executing a function associated with a feed.

Referring to FIG. 37, upon detecting a user action for selecting a feed3440 of the display page 3400, the controller 440 controls a screen 3760to be displayed in response to the detected user action. The screen 3760may be a screen on which a page including a detailed description ofcontent recommended by the feed 3440 is displayed. The contentrecommended by the feed 3440 is a web entitled “Transformer 1”.

FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of dataflow in an execution process of a method for providing a contentrecommendation service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 38, the network interface 420 transmits a message forrequesting a display page to an SNS gateway 210 (step S381).

The network interface 420 receives feed data or a display page from theSNS server 20 (step S382). The feed data may be data for displaying afeed related to a content post request message and the received displaypage may include a feed related to the content post request message. Thefeed may include details of recommendation for content displayed in stepS330 of FIG. 33. A display page 3800 may include a feed for displayingthe feed data received in step S382 or may be an image for displayingthe display page received in step S382. Feeds of the display page 3800may include respective associated metadata IDs.

In some embodiments, the network interface 420 may directly transmit themessage for requesting a display page to an SNS server and may directlyreceive the display page 3800 from the SNS server as a response to themessage.

The controller 440 detects a user action for selecting a feed 3810. Thecontroller 440 transmits a metadata ID associated with the selected feed3810 to a relay manager 3230 in response to the detected user action(step S383). The relay manager 3230 requests a metadata managementserver 210 to transmit metadata associated with the metadata ID.

The metadata management server 210 transmits the metadata associatedwith the metadata ID to the relay manager 3230 (step S385). The networkinterface 420 receives the metadata and transmits the metadata to therelay manager 3230.

The relay manager 3230 displays content 3861 on a screen 3860 using thereceived metadata. The screen 3860 may display at least one of adetailed description page of content, a search result, a contentexecution screen, or a content image frame. The screen 3860 may be oneof the screen 2510 of FIG. 25, the screen 2610 of FIG. 26, and thescreen 2710 of FIG. 27.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart illustrating an execution process of anotherexemplary embodiment of a method for providing a content recommendationservice according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 39, the display 402 displays a display page (stepS390). The display page may be received in step S338 of FIG. 33 or instep S382 of FIG. 38. The display page may include a feed for displayingthe feed data received in step S338 of FIG. 33 and a feed for displayingthe feed data received in step S382 of FIG. 38. The display page mayalso include the display page 2110 of FIG. 21, the display page 2535 ofFIG. 25, the display page 2635 of FIG. 26, and the display page 2735 ofFIG. 27.

The controller 440 detects a user action for selecting a feed includedin the display page (step S391).

The controller 440 checks a device type in response to the detected useraction (step S392). The device type may be at least one of a digital TV,a personal computer system, a notebook computer, or a mobile terminal.

The controller 440 performs different functions related to a feedaccording to a checking result (step S393). The functions related tofeeds may include at least one of a function for displaying thereal-time broadcast program described with reference to FIG. 34, afunction for displaying a page for executing or purchasing music videocontent described with reference to FIG. 35, a function for displaying apage for executing or purchasing web content described with reference toFIG. 36, or a function for displaying a page including a detaileddescription of VOD content described with reference to FIG. 37.

For example, if a device type is a mobile terminal and a function of theselected feed is for displaying a real-time broadcast program, thecontroller 440 controls a message for requesting real-time broadcastprogram display to be transmitted to a digital TV. The message mayinclude metadata which is received in step S385 of FIG. 38. If a devicetype is a digital TV and a function of the selected feed is fordisplaying a real-time broadcast program, the controller 440 controlsthe display 402 to display the real-time broadcast program.

FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a screen onwhich view information is displayed on a display page.

Referring to FIG. 40, the display 420 displays a screen 4000. Upondetecting a user action for requesting a broadcast rank, the controller440 controls the screen 4000 to be displayed in response to the detecteduser action.

The screen 4000 may include a content display region 4010 and an activeregion 4020. The content display region 4010 displays content. Theactive region 4020 may include a menu region 4021 for selecting an SNSserver or services and a page region 4025 for displaying a display pagerelated to the services. The menu region 4021 includes icons 4031, 4032,4033, and 4034 for selecting specific services and the page region 4025displays feeds 4041, 4042, and 4043 included in the display page. A useraction for requesting broadcast rank may be an action for selecting theicon 4031 for selecting a Popular Now service. The Popular Now servicerefers to a service for providing view information.

The feeds 4041, 4042, and 4034 include the number of users who viewreal-time broadcast programs associated with the respective feeds. Thenumber of users of the feed 4041 is 395, the number of users of the feed4042 is 123, and the number of users of the feed 4043 is 33. The numberof users may be the number of users of a social networking environmentwho view a real-time broadcast related to the feed in one country.According to the number of users, the feeds 4041, 4042, and 4043 may bedisplayed in arrangement of descending or ascending order.

The feeds 4041, 4042, and 4043 include lists of users who haverecommended related real-time broadcast programs. For example, the feed4041 enumerates photos 4051, 4052, and 4053 included in the user lists.The user lists include at least one of user photos or user SNS accounts.

The feeds 4041, 4042, and 4040 include broadcast information aboutrelated real-time broadcast programs. The broadcast information includesat least one of a channel name, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a broadcast program name, a broadcast start time, or a broadcastend time. For example, the feed 4041 includes a channel name of areal-time broadcast program entitled “Endless Challenge”, a majorchannel number, a minor channel number, a broadcast start time, and abroadcast end time. The broadcast information may further include atleast one of country information or region information.

FIG. 41 is a diagram explaining a real-time broadcast program switchingprocess according to feed selection on a display page including viewinformation.

Referring to FIG. 41, upon detecting a user action for selecting a feed4115, the controller 440 controls a real-time broadcast program relatedto the feed 4115 to be displayed in a content display area 4111.

Under the state that the screen 4110 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for selecting a down key (step S411). Thecontroller 440 shifts an indicator 4113 located at the feed 4115 to afeed 4116 and the display 402 displays a screen 4120. The real-timebroadcast program displayed on the content display region 4111 iscontinuously displayed in a content display region 4121. The feed 4115associated with the real-time broadcast program displayed in the contentdisplay region 4111 has a background color distinguishable from otherfeeds 4116 and 4117.

Under the state that the screen 4120 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for selecting an up key (step S412). In responseto the detected, user action, the controller 440 shifts an indicator4123 to the location 4113 and the display 402 displays the screen 4110.

Under the state the screen 4120 is displayed, the controller 440 detectsa user action for selecting a selection key (e.g. OK key) (step S413).In response to the detected user action, the display 402 displays ascreen 4130. A real-time broadcast program region 4131 displays areal-time broadcast program related to the feed 4116. The color of thefeed 4116 is changed to a color distinguishable from the feeds 4115 and4116. The color of the feed 4115 is changed to the same color as abackground color of the feed 4117.

FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of data flowin an execution process of a method for providing view informationaccording to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 42, the network interface 420 transmits a message forrequesting a broadcast rank to an SNS gateway 210 (step S421). The SNSgateway 210 transmits feed data or a display page as a response to themessage.

The network interface 420 receives the feed data or the display pagetransmitted by the SNS gateway 210 (step S422). The received data may befor displaying the feeds included in the display page 4025 of FIG. 40and the received display page may be the display page 4025 of FIG. 40. Adisplay page 4200 may be an image of the received display page displayedon a screen.

The controller 440 detects a user action for selecting a feed 4210. Ascheme for selecting the feed 4210 may be the above-described scheme inFIG. 41.

In response to the detected user action, the controller 440 transmitsbroadcast information about a real-time broadcast program associatedwith the selected feed 4210 to a relay manager 4220 (step S423). Thebroadcast information may include at least one of a channel name, amajor channel number, a minor channel number, a start time, or an endtime.

The relay manager 4220 receives the broadcast information transmitted bythe controller 440, stops content displayed in a content display region,and controls a real-time broadcast program 4241 indicated by thereceived broadcast information to be displayed on a screen 4240 (stepS424). The screen 4240 may be one of the screen 4110 or 4130 of FIG. 41.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of anexecution process of a method for providing view information accordingto the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 43, the controller 440 detects a user action forrequesting broadcast rank (step S430). The user action may be an actionfor selecting the icon 4031 of FIG. 40.

In response to the detected user action, the controller 440 requests therelay server 10 to transmit broadcast rank (step S431). The relay server10 generates a display page including at least one feed associated witha real-time broadcast program in response to the request and transmitsthe generated display page. The relay server 10 may generate feed datafor displaying the feed and generate the display page including thegenerated feed data. One of the at least one feed includes the number ofusers who view the associated real-time broadcast program. The number ofusers may be the number of users of a social networking environment whoview the real-time broadcast related to the feed in one country.

The feed further includes a list of users who recommend the real-timebroadcast program. The user list includes at least one of user photos oruser SNS accounts. The feed further includes broadcast information aboutthe real-time broadcast program. The broadcast information includes atleast one of a channel number, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a broadcast program name, a broadcast start time, or a broadcastend time.

In some embodiments, the relay server 10 may transmit feed data to theelectronic device 400 without generating the display page. In this case,the electronic device 400 may generate or update a display page usingthe feed data received from the relay server 10 and display thegenerated or updated display page.

In some embodiments, the relay server 10 may transmit the display pageor the feed data through a broadcast or multicast scheme. In this case,the electronic device 400 may receive the display page or feed data byaccessing an address to which the display page or feed data is broadcastor multicast. Here, the address may include at least one of an IPaddress, a port number, or a URL.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 400 may access a specificaddress in step S431 and receive the feed data and the display pagethrough the accessed address. The address may include at least one of anIP address, a port number, or a URL.

The network interface 420 receives the display page transmitted by therelay server 10 (step S432).

The display 402 displays the received display page (step S433). Feeds ofthe displayed display page may be arranged based on the number of users.The displayed display page may be one of the display page 4025 of FIG.40 and the display page 4200 of FIG. 42.

The controller 440 detects a user action for selecting a feed (stepS434). A user may take the user action by the above-described scheme inFIG. 41.

In response to the detected user action, the controller 440 may extractbroadcast information about a real-time broadcast program associatedwith the selected feed. The extracted broadcast information may includeat least one of a channel name, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a start time, or an end time.

The tuner 405 tunes to a channel indicated by the extracted broadcastinformation and receives a real-time broadcast program indicated by thebroadcast information through the channel. The display 402 displays thereceived real-time broadcast program (step S436). The display 402 maydisplay the screen 4110 or 4130 of FIG. 41.

The controller 440 detects a user action for selecting a user includedin the feed. The user action may be an action for selecting thethumbnail 4051 of FIG. 40.

The controller 440 controls connection with an SNS account of theselected user (step S438). Though such connection, the user of theelectronic device 400 may chat with the selected user, exchange messageswith the selected user, and view the program together with the selecteduser.

The network interface 420 transmits broadcast information about thereal-time broadcast program displayed on a screen to the relay server 10(step S439). The controller 440 may control the broadcast information tobe transmitted when the real-time broadcast program is displayed for atime exceeding a preset time. The broadcast information may include atleast one of a channel name, a major channel number, a minor channelnumber, a broadcast program name, a broadcast start time, or a broadcastend time. The broadcast information may further include at least one ofcountry information or region information. The relay server 10 receivesthe broadcast information and calculates the number of users who vieweach real-time broadcast program based on the received broadcastinformation. The relay server 10 generates a display page including afeed related to each real-time broadcast program using the broadcastinformation and the calculated number of users.

FIG. 44 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of screensdisplayed in a process of recording part of displayed content.

Referring to FIG. 44, the display 402 displays a screen 4410. A pointer4401 on the screen 4410 is located over a “Like” button 4411.

Under the state that the screen 4410 is displayed, the controller 440detects a user action for pressing a button for content recommendation.The button for content recommendation may be an “OK” button 4405.

The display 402 displays a screen 4420. The screen 4420 includes aprogress bar 4421 indicating a recording progress state. The progressbar 4421 may be displayed when the button 4405 for contentrecommendation is pressed for a time exceeding a preset time. While thebutton 4405 for content recommendation continues to be pressed, thecontroller 440 stores an image frame of content displayed in the contentdisplay region 4425 of the screen 4420 in the storage unit 445.

The display 402 displays a screen 4430. The screen 4430 displays acontent recommendation confirmation message 4431. The contentrecommendation confirmation message 4431 includes a button 4435 forviewing a recorded part. Upon detecting a user action for releasingcontent recommendation, the controller 440 stops storing the image framein response to the detected user action and controls the contentrecommendation confirmation message 4431 to be displayed. The controller440 may generate a media file or a video file including the image framestored in the storage unit 445.

The display 402 displays a screen 4440. The screen 4440 displays a feed4441 for recommending content displayed in the screens 4410, 4420, and4430. The feed 4441 includes a selection button 4445 for selecting thegenerated video file or media file.

FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an activityelectronic program guide.

Referring to FIG. 45, an activity electronic program guide 4500 displaysfeeds generated on a month basis (e.g. December 2011, November 2011,October 2011, September 2011, and August 2011). The feeds relate torecommended content.

The activity electronic program guide 4500 includes a Play All button4511 and an Add Basket button 4512. A user may take an action forselecting the Play All button 4511 of the activity electronic programguide 4500 so that content related to the feeds of the activityelectronic program guide 4500 can be consecutively executed ordisplayed. A user may take an action for selecting the Add Basket button4512 so that content related to the feeds of the activity electronicprogram guide 4500 can be stored in the storage unit 445 or a presetstorage space of a web.

The electronic device 400 may generate the activity electronic programguide 4500 using a display page transmitted by an SNS server. In someembodiments, the relay server 10 may generate the activity electronicprogram guide 4500 using a content post request message received fromthe electronic device 400 or a display page transmitted by an SNSserver. In some embodiments, the SNS server may generate the activityelectronic program guide 4500 and provide the activity electronicprogram guide 4500 to the electronic device 400.

FIG. 46 is a diagram explaining an exemplary embodiment of a process ofdisplaying content introduced in an activity electronic program guide.

Referring to FIG. 46, upon detecting a user action for selecting a PlayAll button 4610 of an activity electronic program guide 4600, thecontroller 440 controls a screen 4620 to be displayed in response to thedetected user action.

The screen 4620 is a screen on which content associated with a feed 4611is displayed. If content display is completed, a screen 4630 isdisplayed. The screen 4630 is a screen on which a page including adetailed description of the content is displayed.

Under that state that the screen 4630 is displayed, the controller 440controls content associated with another feed to be automaticallydisplayed when no user action is detected for a preset time. A screen4640 is a screen on which content related to a feed 4613 is displayed.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing information between usersof a social networking environment, comprising: receiving feed data fordisplaying a plurality of feeds associated with a plurality of real-timebroadcast programs, wherein one of the plurality of feeds includesinformation regarding a total number of users viewing the associatedreal-time broadcast programs; determining a broadcast rank based on atotal number of users viewing the associated real-time broadcastprograms; displaying the broadcast rank along with simultaneouslydisplaying the plurality of feeds on a screen, wherein the plurality offeeds are displayed in an activity electronic program guide generated ona month basis, wherein the activity electronic program guide includesfeeds that are reproduced directly by selecting a play button; andrecording the plurality of feeds directly by pressing a button, on aremote control, corresponding to a content recommendation.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one of the displayed feeds is displayedon the screen of a television.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thetelevision includes a first input receiver to provide a signal having afirst protocol and a second input receiver to provide a signal having asecond protocol.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationregarding the total number of users includes a total number of userslogged in to a server.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationregarding the total number of users includes information regarding userswatching the associated real-time broadcast programs.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the information regarding the total number of usersincludes information regarding users who like the associated real-timebroadcast programs.
 7. An electronic device for providing informationbetween users of a social networking environment, comprising: a networkinterface for receiving feed data for displaying a plurality of feedsassociated with a plurality of real-time broadcast programs, wherein oneof the plurality of feeds includes information regarding a total numberof users viewing the associated real-time broadcast programs; acontroller for controlling reception of the feed data and determining abroadcast rank based on the total number of users viewing the associatedreal-time broadcast programs; a display for displaying the broadcastrank along with simultaneously displaying the plurality of feeds,wherein the plurality of feeds are displayed in an activity electronicprogram guide generated on a month basis, wherein the activityelectronic program guide includes feeds that are reproduced directly byselecting a play button; and a user interface for recording theplurality of feeds directly by pressing a button, on a remote control,corresponding to a content recommendation.
 8. The electronic device ofclaim 7, further comprising a tuner for receiving a real-time broadcastprogram.
 9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the informationregarding the total number of users includes a total number of userslogged in to a server.
 10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein theinformation regarding the total number of users includes informationregarding users watching the associated real-time broadcast programs.11. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the information regardingthe total number of users includes information regarding users who likethe associated real-time broadcast programs.